Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Beverly Denny
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy volunteers released about 100 monarch butterflies at Oatlands Plantation Aug. 14. The monarch population has been decreasing steadily for 15 years due to loss of milkweed, which they need to lay eggs and eat as caterpillars, and nectar from plants such as goldenrod and asters. The Conservancy recruits volunteers to plant monarch waystations at their homes, schools, churches and businesses to help the butterflies survive.